Possessing Duo Maxwell
by Bolt of Tien Mu
Summary: The boys are working together, but their mission goes awry and both Duo and Heero are injured. While hiding out together, Duo convinces the other pilots to enjoy All Hallows Eve with him. A spirit board gets involved and there are dire consequences.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Duo convinces the other pilots to enjoy All Hallows Eve with him and there are dire consequences. This is actually version 2.0 of the story. It was originally a AU school fic, but I decided I could have more fun with the canon situation. Unfortunately, this is currently TWT, though it is at least after Heero's time at the circus in Trowa's care.

Content and Warnings: Supernatural, mild language, possible hints of shonen ai, rated PG-13

Disclaimer: This is the equivalent of singing classic rock songs in a school talent show: you obviously don't own them, you're not making any money, and your lack of talent may be a painful thing for others to witness.

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Possessing Duo Maxwell, part one  
A Gundam Wing 'Eek!' Fic by Tien Mu 

Duo slid to a half stop at a corner in the hallway, flung a handful of charges at his pursuers, and bolted further down the hall before the explosion. He checked the labels of the doors as he ran past them. He almost missed the one he wanted, turning at the last minute and hurtling into the doorframe in his hurry.

"Heero, man, we've worn out our welcome. Think you could hurry up?"

Heero was kneeling before a computer console with dead bodies strewn around him and a small puddle of blood was oozing around his knees. He would have been sitting in a chair, but it had been broken, as evidenced by the mangled bits of plastic and bloodied fabric, in the brief altercation that gave him uninterrupted access to the room.

Heero took only a moment before ejecting a disk from the computer. He stood and his knees creaked loudly in belated protest to the position he had been in. He fired once into the processing unit, which sizzled and caught fire in tiny explosions.

"Done."

Duo looked out the doorway, but jerked his head back in when he saw soldiers approaching from the end of the long hall.

"Shit! They're right on top of us. Got any good ideas?"

"Run."

"What? _That's_ your good idea? They'll mow us down!"

Heero stood by Duo at the door, looking at what little he could see through the mostly closed door. Duo looked him over. He had cuts on his arms from taking the hard way onto the compound, over a fence topped with concertina wire. His hair and face were singed from getting too close to explosions and hot artillery. And the finishing touch was a bullet wound to his right knee that made Duo wonder how Heero's kneecap was still in his company.

"Go first and I'll cover you. Take the disk," Heero said.

Duo shoved the disk back at his partner. He grinned, but it was a hard, humorless curve.

"Keep your damn disk, you lunatic. You're a hell of a lot worse off than I am. _I_ will cover _you_."

"If you are talking about my knee, it will hold up fine."

"That's good to know. Prove it and get the hell out of here while I deal with our hosts."

Heero started to argue further, but Duo jerked open the door and shoved him into the hall. Then there was no time to talk as the soldiers spotted them. Heero set off at a run, but his gait was oddly loping as he favored his bad leg.

Duo ran sideways and backwards as he fired continuously into the oncoming forces. The end of the hall would turn a corner and an exit was right there. They were almost out and the soldiers were dropping rapidly. He checked his position. Heero was already around the corner, hopefully out the exit too.

Duo turned away from his pursuers and made the last sprint for the end of the hall. He turned it just in time to have the bullet graze the back of his neck instead of blasting through it. The force sent him sprawling onto his face as he lost his balance and started to black out from the shock.

Heero saw Duo fall and pivoted on his right leg to return to him. The move seemed to wrench his ligaments and muscles apart and he was losing blood faster now. He hoisted Duo onto his shoulder and returned to the exit. He was making slow time and he knew he would be lucky if the soldiers didn't reach him before he got to the exit, let alone before he made it out of the compound.

Heero's earpiece clicked on as Quatre connected with him.

"Heero, what is your position? The place is like an ant hill!"

"Exit three."

"ETA?"

Heero hesitated. Two minutes? Five? He wasn't sure. Impossibly, he had failed to calculate the changes that would come if they were injured to the point of immobility. Had their plan really been put together so quickly as to miss that? But could he abandon his fellow pilot to make his own escape? Duo had covered him (and the vital disk, he reminded himself) when he knew Heero was injured.

"Heero? Report! Are you okay?"

"ETA unknown. I am injured and Duo is down."

The weak speakers screeched with static when Quatre shouted.

"WHAT? I'm sending Wufei in. Give him two minutes."

Heero was out the exit and he could see the edge of the complex, the light forest beyond it, and, he imagined, Quatre's vehicle, waiting to get them out. Trowa's was on the other side of the complex and would be leaving even now to secure a new safe house. It felt like all of Duo's weight was pushing down on his wounded knee, pressing bone contusion again bone contusion and catching ragged nerves between them. His vision was shutting down around the edges; blood loss was starting to hit him. While he knew he could keep going in that state, at least for a while longer, the limp body over his shoulder seemed to suck energy away from him. Exhaustion was taking its toll as well.

They had been on the move the whole night before and found their safe house crawling with soldiers, somehow alerted to their arrival before it happened. At least the gundams were safely stored at a separate location. But they were forced to flee while the window of opportunity for their mission quickly closed. Heero had insisted that they complete the mission immediately, reasoning that their enemies would not expect them to attack their base when plans had so obviously been shot to hell. He realized now that they would not expect it because it was a damn fool thing to do, a suicidal thing.

Heero dragged himself over to a row of bushes and lay in the sliver of space between them and the wall. They were sorely lacking as cover, but they blocked the search lights and created deep shadows. Heero settled Duo over his body, lacking the room to fit side by side. It was windy, with a late October chill, and the bushes let the wind through their branches to freeze the two boys. Duo's body began to shake. He mumbled and shifted a little, not quite conscious. Heero knew it was not cold enough to be dangerous for him, but he rubbed his hands across Duo's arms and back, chaffing warmth into him. Blood was seeping from the furrow in his neck. Heero noted that the bullet had gone deep enough that it missed Duo's braid entirely. Duo would probably be happy about that, despite the fact that it made his injury worse. At least it hadn't hit his spine and caused paralysis.

It seemed like he lay there for ages, sharing warmth with Duo and keeping his mind moving to resist unconsciousness. But he knew Quatre and Wufei were actually only a few minutes away by foot. His earpiece crackled again and Wufei's voice came through.

"Yuy, where in hell are you?"

"Bushes," he answered.

A second later, Wufei was clamoring behind the bushes as well, sweeping Duo off Heero and pulling him to his feet. He now had Duo half in his arms, half thrown over his shoulder. He wedged his other shoulder under Heero's arm to support him. Heero expected to see soldiers somewhere near them, but Wufei was moving with single minded attention to speed, rarely checking for attackers. That was when Heero saw a tan jeep racing along the access road. It came towards them, then veered sharply to the right to follow the road into the trees. Soldiers were racing to the garages, not to them, and taking off after the jeep.

_Trowa._

They kept running while he provided their distraction. They hobbled and tripped across the open field of half-dead grass between the building they had left and the perimeter fense. Then a black truck cut off their path.

Quatre braked sharply and jumped out. He took Duo from Wufei and pushed him into the backseat with less care than he would have liked. He was back in the driver's seat when Wufei got Heero into the back as well.

"Go!" Wufei shouted.

Quatre hit the accelerator as Wufei leapt into the vehicle and pulled the swinging door shut. Soldiers were starting to notice that there was a second enemy group and a few bikes were trailing them. Heero slid open the small back window and fired on the men. He took out the front tire on one bike, but with Heero, one could be sure he had been aiming for the man's head. Wufei pried the gun out of his hand and picked off the remaining three easily. He handed the gun back to Heero, who frowned at it disapprovingly, as though feeling betrayed by it.

"Yuy, the next time you decide to attempt a suicide mission, do it by yourself!"

"Not now, Wufei," Quatre snapped. "Why don't you concentrate on making sure Duo lasts until we get somewhere safe?"

Wufei snorted and leaned over the back of his seat to look and Duo. Heero pulled his tank top off and pressed it to Duo's neck, hiding the wound from Wufei's view. But it didn't hide the wide stain of darker fabric down Duo's back and the red tinting his braid.

"He took a shot to the neck. A graze," Heero explained.

"That's a lot of blood. How deep is this 'graze'?" Wufei asked.

Heero grunted. So it was more than a graze. It wasn't going to be fatal, at least. It would be okay if they got the bleeding to stop and could patch him up soon.

"That bad?" Wufei asked. "Does Trowa have a safe house for us yet?"

Quatre shook his head and switched channels on his radio.

"Trowa?"

"Lost my tail. Head west, into town. I'll secure a place and give you the coordinates."

"Roger. Be careful."

They drove until they hit the suburb, then kept going, closer to the heart of town. Quatre continually checked his radio, verifying that it was getting a signal and was on the right channel. Finally, Trowa's voice broke the silence and Quatre sighed with relief.

"Elm and Oak , in the eleven hundred block," Trowa said.

"We just passed that," Quatre muttered.

He tried to make a u-turn, but the truck didn't fit and he had to make two more passes before they were completely turned around, while avoiding being rear-ended by the midday traffic.

"I swear, a carrier ship would have a better turn radius than this thing," he hissed.

He turned down the street, which was lined with standard model houses.

"Which one?"

"1159 and a half," Trowa answered.

"What was that? A half?"

"That's what it says. I'm ditching the jeep. Back in ten minutes."

Quatre peered at the houses, checking the numbers on each one. He found 1159 1/2 right between 1157 and 1163.

"What a ridiculous way to organize houses," Wufei said.

"As long as it's secure, they can tell me it's actually on L4 for all I care," Quatre said.

He wiped his shirtsleeve across his forehead, which was almost dripping perspiration. There was a reason he didn't do get-away driving on a regular basis. He felt like he would faint any moment from the tension. It was less stressful to pilot Sandrock than the blasted two ton truck. At least then he had a massive hunk of reinforced gundanium protecting him.

The garage door had been left open and he pulled the truck into it. There was nothing in the garage at all, so he assumed the house was currently abandoned. Wufei got out and hit the button to close the door, keeping the vehicle from view. Quatre slid Duo out of the truck. The boy seemed to be vaguely aware of what was going on because he wasn't dead weight in Quatre's arms, but he wasn't able to do much to support himself.

"Do you need help with him? I know Maxwell is heavy," Wufei said with a stiff attempt at humor.

"I'm okay. Just get Heero in and we can put our friends back together."

Duo muttered and moved a little more purposefully.

"Hmnavee," he mumbled.

"What did he say?" Wufei asked.

"I think that was 'I'm not heavy.' Oh, poor Duo. He always comes out hurt the worst."

"Perhaps if he used his head more often, he'd stay out of trouble."

"Wufei, that's not fair and you know it. Duo doesn't go looking for trouble. Well, much, at any rate. He just seems to have bad luck."

"Hmph. He antagonizes the enemy too much."

"I, ah, must admit that's true."

The garage connected directly to the house, first into a small laundry room, then to what would have been the living room. There were scattered sofas and chairs, but they were covered with white sheets. All smaller pieces of furniture and usual household items were gone and these seemed to just be waiting for the final stage of moving out.

Wufei eased a barely functional Heero into a fat recliner and brought the foot rest up so that his leg was out straight. Quatre laid Duo out on the sofa on his stomach. He ran back out to the truck and brought back their med kit. He pulled Duo's braid aside to see his neck.

"Well, Heero was fairly correct in his assessment. It isn't _that_ deep."

"Stitches?" Wufei asked.

"No, bandages should be enough. I think it's just the trauma and blood loss that are making him so groggy. Thank Allah it wasn't deep enough to nick his spine or-"

"Winner, do not get worked up. He will be fine. Bandage the wound and let him sleep it off. Since we can't feed him right now, Maxwell's other cure-all will have to do."

Quatre nodded and pulled out the bandages and antiseptics he needed, then pushed the kit over to Wufei.

"How is Heero?"

"Just a through and through-" Heero started to say.

"Shut up, Yuy, and let me work. I don't know how you kept your knee cap on. The bullet went between it and the joint. But you're right. It's a mostly clean through and through. You truly cannot be human if you have that sort of resilience."

Wufei filled a syringe with an analgesic and dosed around the wound. Heero tried to reach for the syringe.

"I don't need that," Heero stated.

"Suffering needlessly does not make you a better man. Do not interfere with my work again or I will find a way to knock you out without further damaging your already unstable brain."

Wufei said all this without looking up from his work. He pressed at the edges of the wound, testing the level of numbness, and started placing neat sutures to close both sides of the hole. Heero fumed in silence, but eventually gave up his stern look as a waste of precious energy. Across the room, a sliding glass door slid open and Trowa slipped in. Quatre looked up from his almost completed bandages and smiled.

"Trowa, I didn't even hear you come up. Did everything go okay for you?"

Trowa nodded and looked over his two wounded team mates critically.

"How are they?"

"They'll be okay. If Wufei doesn't kill Heero before he finishes helping him."

Trowa nodded to Heero when he saw he was actually awake.

"Making life difficult for your nursemaids again, Heero?"

Heero grunted, but there was the faintest hint of an embarrassed blush on his face. Wufei growled and knotted off the last suture.

"I resent being called a nursemaid, Barton. Maybe I should stitch your mouth next."

Trowa held up his hands in defense and backed away.

"I'm going to check the house again," he said.

Quatre smoothed down the last piece of tape on Duo's bandage.

"Wait, Trowa, I'm finished here. Let me go with you. Wufei, you'll watch them, right?"

Wufei nodded and Quatre trotted after Trowa into the kitchen. Wufei soaked a piece of gauze in antiseptic and tried to clean the assorted cuts and scrapes over Heero's arms, but he took the swab away and started cleaning them himself. Wufei sighed and settled his back against the side of Heero's recliner, closing his eyes.

"How could any infiltration mission go that far awry? What happened in there, Yuy? And how did they know where we were going to stay beforehand?"

"Obviously, the doctors have a leak in their system," Heero answered.

"Someone tipped Oz off? Are you sure it isn't just that nosy onna?"

Heero bristled.

"Relena has never been this far ahead of us. And it takes time before Oz realizes who she's following each time."

"Incompetence all around, then. And in the base?"

"Our timing was off. We were supposed to enter between guard shifts and follow their route to the main computer. But there was a second set or they changed their path after covering half the compound because we ran right into them."

"That was all? You should have been able to take care of a few sentries."

Heero nodded. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was just moving in his sleep.

"The first group must have heard the gunfire and they caught up with us. We were delayed and by then, half the base knew about us. Duo kept them busy while I got the files."

"And you were both shot?" Wufei snorted. "You're getting careless, Yuy."

The jab got no response and Wufei look back and up at Heero. His head had dropped forward, making his unruly hair overshadow his face completely, and he was snoring very slightly. Wufei smiled, though the only change seemed to be in his eyes. Wufei hunkered down into a more comfortable position on the floor and rested his head on folded arms. Though he would not go to sleep while charged with watching his comrades, he allowed himself a few moments of relaxation.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: It's Halloween, Duo is awake and close enough to well, so the fun is really going to start. After all, the God of Death can't help but like a holiday devoted to the spirits and the dark. But is it really a good idea to play with toys from a stranger's attic, Duo? I am concerned about possible OOC, so I will give my half-assed excuses now. The boys have been working together long enough to establish a dynamic. They are not total strangers. I'm not trying to kill the original versions of them; I'm more inclined to leave them as they are than anything else. Yes, Wufei will continue to have that customary stick up his ass, no, Quatre will not be made into some flat-chested version of a debutant with mecha. More importantly, in my fuzzy little world, Trowa has a soft spot for Duo for many of the same reasons he seems to connect with Heero: there's a similarity in their backgrounds that most other people, even in the team, can't share with them. And if he can handle Heero, I see him having some affection for Duo as well. Good luck and goodbye.

Content and Warnings: Supernatural, increasing religious elements, mild language, possible hints of shonen ai, rated PG-13

Archive: Bolt of Tien Mu, Gundam Wing Universe, and FFnet

Feedback: tienmu (at) graffiti (dot) net

Disclaimer: This is the equivalent of singing classic rock songs in a school talent show: you obviously don't own them, you're not making any money, and your lack of talent may be a painful thing for others to witness. In addition to not owning GW, I don't own the quote Trowa uses, which is by Virna Sheard. The Complete Books of Azrael are real, lumped together as Our Name is Melancholy. It's a fabulous read, if you have a taste for it (beware of vague necrophilia). I don't own Malleus Maleficarum and wouldn't want to. My herb choices are meaningful and will be elaborated on at a later date. Great thanks to Scott Cunningham for making that possible.

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Possessing Duo Maxwell, part two  
A Gundam Wing 'Eek!' Fic by Tien Mu 

Duo woke to a steady pulse of pain through most of his body. He shifted in increments, testing each area. So far, the only things that didn't hurt were his toes and his nose, though his left cheek hurt like hell. He was pleased that no one had tried to break his nose this time, at least. He tried to keep that in mind as all his muscles muttered in objection when he shifted to his right side and turned his head to alleviate the pressure on his bruised cheek. He ached as if he had been pinballing around in Deathscythe's cockpit.

"Duo, are you awake?"

The voice sounded fuzzy, as if he was hearing it through wet cotton. He tried to answer, but he throat was clogged with foamy saliva and his words came out as a raspy groan. He felt a light touch on his shoulder, just starting to pull him over onto his back.

"If you can turn over, I have pain pills for you. But you have to sit up," Quatre said.

Duo rolled over with Quatre's help, making his up-close view of the weave in the sofa cushions tilt sickeningly to the vaulted ceiling over him and Quatre's face peering in from the edge of his vision. But the position made the coil of his braid and the couch cushion press against his neck. He hissed and jerked himself back onto his side. With greater care this time, he simultaneously rolled over and pulled himself up into a half sitting position, his back leaning against the armrest of the couch. Quatre held a canteen against his lips so he could drink, then pressed two pills against his lips. Duo accepted them and the canteen returned to his mouth. He swallowed and the pills felt like rocks going down his throat. He coughed explosively to clear the congestion and took another drink.

"Hey," he said finally.

Quatre smiled and sat on the edge of the sofa.

"Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"

"Been better. Been worse, too, so I won't complain."

Wufei appeared at the opposite end of the couch.

"That would be a first, Maxwell."

Duo pouted and winced when he felt his split lip crack.

"Don't be cruel to the wounded, man," he complained.

"Don't listen to him, Duo," Quatre said. "He's been watching you and Heero faithfully all day."

"Winner," Wufei growled. "Do no confuse the observation of duty with... something else."

Duo grinned widely, ignoring the split lip now.

"Wu, I didn't know you cared!"

Wufei huffed and turned on his heel. He lightly bounded up the steps to the second floor balcony and disappeared into a room. Duo chuckled and raked a hand through his hair.

"Duo, you shouldn't tease him so much."

"Yeah, right. This coming from the guy who gave me the ammunition to do it. Get real, Q. I'm just trying to get him to loosen up a little."

"Is that what you're doing?" Quatre asked with a laugh. "I thought you were trying to drive him to homicide."

Duo punched him in the arm, but there was little force behind it. He sighed and slumped forward.

"I would kill for a hot shower."

"I think that can be arranged. It seems the owners of this house moved out recently. The water and electricity are still working."

"Are you serious? This is great! For once, a safe house that I won't mind staying in. Give me a hand here."

Duo grabbed Quatre's shoulder and pushed against it to shift himself across the couch until his feet were on the floor. He stood up, but swayed and collapsed again with enough force to make the springs and frame rattle.

"Shit."

"Duo, you need to take it slowly. You were shot, remember?"

"Not really," Duo said.

He ran a hand across the back of his neck, feeling the soft patch of gauze and the stiff edges of tape. He pulled his braid over his shoulder and craned his head to look at it.

"Hm. At least this is still with me. Shot, huh? Wish I could remember what happened."

"You can ask Heero later. Here," Quatre said and offered his hand to help Duo up again.

Duo stood and wobbled, balancing against Quatre's strength. When he was sure he wasn't going to fall again, he nodded and Quatre walked him to the downstairs bathroom.

"Is Heero okay? His knee looked like hell and-"

"He's fine. Don't worry. His knee will heal, if he would just stop walking on it all the time. He woke a few hours ago and keeps hiding himself away with his computer."

"Yep, sounds like standard Heero procedures."

Quatre made Duo sit on the closed toilet seat while he turned on the shower. There was no curtain and he had to tip the showerhead towards the wall as far as it would go to prevent having water spray over the floor.

"I'm afraid there aren't any towels or soap."

"I'll make do."

"Do you need any help getting undressed?" Quatre asked.

Duo gave him a shocked look that dissolved into a cheeky smile.

"Why, Q, I had no idea you thought about me that way."

Quatre blushed and stuttered.

"I only meant-"

"Relax, I know. I'll be fine. Thanks."

Quatre nodded and walked out. He was about to close the door when Duo called to him.

"Hey, what day is it? And time, too."

"It's still the thirty-first. You didn't miss much. And it's sixteen hundred hours. Okay?"

"Thanks."

Quatre closed the door and his steps moved away from the door. Duo pulled off both his shirts unceremoniously and tossed them in corner of the room. He pulled off his boots and socks and placed them by the door, then his pants and boxers joined the shirts. Naked, he carefully stretched his arms over his head, slowly pulling them to loosen the muscles. He did the same for his legs, then braced against the counter to twist his back until it gave a satisfying pop. The hot water was now making the room steam up and the top half of the mirror was misted over. Finally, he took the tie out of his hair and pulled the knotted plaits apart, finger combing them as much as he could. Even his scalp hurt.

He was about to step into the shower when the door opened and Quatre came in. Duo squawked and whirled away, but he turned the wrong way. Instead of turning his back to Quatre, he faced him fully, realized his mistake, and spun around again. His ample hair curtained his body almost to his knees. He turned just his head to glare at Quatre, who had also turned his back to Duo and was facing out the open door. However, his shoulders were shaking just a little with suppressed laughter.

"Christ, are you nuts? Can't a guy have a shower in peace?"

"Sorry, sorry. I was just going to offer to wash your clothes. There's an old box of detergent in the laundry and with all the blood, I thought you would want to, well, yes."

"Jeez, I wish you would have remembered about that _before_ I got naked. The clothes are in the corner. I'll hang out in here until they're done drying, so let me know."

"Okay. They shouldn't take too long."

"Yeah, well, I'm not planning to rush through this shower. I deserve it. Oh, and hit Heero for telling us we should leave our rucksacks with the gundams before the mission."

"Of course. Enjoy," Quatre said as he closed the door behind him.

Duo grumbled as he got into the shower and squeezed himself into the corner where the water was aimed. Even then, water was splashing off his body and onto the floor outside. He soaked his hair, massaging his scalp and wringing his hair between his hands to get it as clean as possible. The water going down the drain was tinted red as dried blood in his hair and on his back was rinsed away. He turned the hot water on harder, heating the shower further and increasing the water pressure. He turned around under the spray, scrubbing his nails and knuckles across his skin to get off sweaty grime without the aid of soap. His skin turned pink and red in stripes where his treatment was a little too rough.

He buried his face in the water, gasping air through his mouth periodically and rubbing down his face with only a little less force than he had used on the rest of his body. Then he sat down in the attached tub, folding his legs close to his chest. The water continued to beat down on him, running into his eyes and down his back. He rubbed his feet, bending each toe gently to check for breaks or sprains. There was no swelling, so it was not a practical necessity, but more an excuse to massage his aching feet.

Quatre's voice leaked through the closed door.

"Duo? Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah, of course. Whadya want?"

"It's been half an hour and your clothes are almost finished. I just wanted to tell you."

"Already?" Duo said to himself, then raised his voice to answer. "Okay, just set them outside the door."

Reluctantly, Duo stood up and shut off the water. Without a curtain to trap the warm air close to him, the water on his body soon turned too cold for comfort. Grumbling again, he wrung as much water out of his hair as he could and scraped it off his body with his hands.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," he complained.

He combed his fingers through his hair, hitting snag after snag.

"Heero needs to get hit extra hard for making me leave behind the sack that has my clothes _and_ my brush. Jerk."

He roughly divided it into sections and braided it, leaving it looser than usual so it might dry sometime in the next twenty-four hours. There were bumps and stray bits everywhere and he scowled at his foggy reflection.

"Yep, extra hard."

He heard footsteps outside the door and a single knock on the door. He waited a minute before peeking his head out and snatching up the folded pile of clothes. He dressed as quickly as he could with his clothes sticking to all his damp skin, tugging fabric around in annoyance. He left the black over-shirt open and wrung his hair out one last time over the sink.

In the kitchen, Trowa had multiple bags of take-out burgers scattered on a cooking island. Wufei was standing across from him, looking dubiously at a burger sitting on its wrapper.

"Food! Trowa, you're my new favorite person!"

Duo threw an arm around Trowa's shoulders and started rooting through the bags. Trowa pushed one in front of him.

"Yours, Duo. Don't eat the others."

"Can I at least steal Heero's? He so deserves to go hungry right now!"

"No, Duo. You're not the only growing boy here," Trowa said with a tiny smile.

"Aw, man. Still, this is the best safe house I've had in a while. Hot shower, fresh food, clean furniture to sleep on. A guy could get used to this."

Duo tore the wrapper off his burger and took a massive bite. Wufei had just taken a bite of his own and looked vaguely green. Duo swallowed the mouthful, nearly choking.

"Wu, you don't look so good."

"I don't care what you say, Maxwell. This is not food."

"You gotta be kidding!"

Duo took an enthusiastic bite from his own burger. He shoved a hand into the bag and fished around for something without success. He set the sandwich down and peered into the bag. He looked up at Trowa mournfully.

"No fries?"

Trowa shook his head.

"We're on a budget."

Duo harrumphed and took another huge bite, followed by a prolonged, vaguely defiant drink from his soda. He gulped audibly.

"Who did the full sweep?"

Trowa raised an eyebrow.

"So, what other amenities does this fine establishment have to offer a discriminating gentleman?"

"Two bedrooms upstairs, one down, two baths, living room, kitchen, small attic. No turndown service or mint."

"Disappointing. Anything up in the attic?"

"Junk."

"Just my style. I'm gonna go check it out."

"Take Quatre."

Duo shrugged, surprised by the suggestion, and walked out, still eating his burger.

"Duo, are you really sure you want to go up there?" Quatre asked.

Duo looked down at him from the top step of the folding staircase leading into the attic.

"Sure! I want to see if there's good junk up there."

"I just..."

"Q, come on. There's just a lost of moldy furniture and boxes. I can see the whole room from here. Nothing to worry about."

Quatre sighed and gripped the sides of the ladder-like steps firmly.

The attic was, as Duo promised, packed with a jumble of old furniture and disintegrating boxes. The objects looked old enough and, as Quatre's sneezing fit attested, dusty enough that they must not have been touched in years. It was possible even the recent owners had not known about the attic and that it dated to owners before them.

"Wow! Look at all these old toys," Quatre said. "Some of these are collectors' items today. How old do you think any of this is?"

"Old enough to hold office," Duo answered with a laugh.

There was a wobbling noise of objects trying to keep their balance as Duo backed into a book case. A glass jar tipped over and rolled off its shelf to shatter on the floor. It released a puddle of deeply red liquid.

"Christ!"

"Tell me that isn't blood," Quatre said as he peered at it.

"I would, buddy, but you know I wouldn't risk lying."

Duo carefully picked up a section of a glass with a faded paper label stuck to it. _Bat's Blood._

"No way. What the hell else is in there?"

"Duo, I really think we should get out of here. This is getting a little..."

"Yeah, just let me see."

He turned jars and bottles on the shelves to check their labels and tilted his head to read the titles of stacked books.

_Mars Compound. Dried Angelica. Rosemary Simple._

_The Complete Books of Azrael. Book of Shadows. Malleus Maleficarum._

"What's..."

"Duo!"

"Okay, okay. We're going."

Duo tugged roughly at what he had been looking at. It was a thin slice of black marble, inscribed in tarnished silver, so dark it was barely visible.

Quatre had already disappeared through the hatch in the floor. Duo stuck his head through, holding out the board.

"Take this for me."

Quatre took the stone warily and Duo scrambled down the stairs. The hatched swung up and slammed shut. Quatre felt he could breathe a little again and rubbed absently at the tightness in his chest.

"Duo, what is-"

Duo was already pounding down the stairs to the first floor.

"Hey, guys, check this out," he yelled.

Heero glared around the back of the recliner he had permanently claimed as his own. His face was cast in a faint green glow, indicating that the laptop was occupying its usual spot with him. There was a crumpled paper bag next to him; apparently, he had deemed the dinner tolerable.

"Must you? I'm trying to type our mission report."

Trowa came out of the kitchen to lean against the wall, watching everyone else. Wufei pushed past him and Duo almost tumbled the rest of the way down the stairs in a fit of laughter when he saw him. Having given up on the dinner Trowa had provided, he was instead morosely eating a stalk of celery. He looked unspeakably annoyed about the situation.

"Wu, you know you burn more calories eating that than you get from it, right?"

Wufei didn't see fit to answer. Quatre was right on Duo's heels and looked worried.

"Duo, what did you find? Those things were, Allah, I don't know _what_ they were."

"Relax, man. No witch's brew right now. It's just a spirit board."

Quatre's nose and brow wrinkled in confusion.

"I've never heard of that."

"They're supposed to let you contact the spirits, demons, all sorts of stuff. They can spell out messages with it. But I didn't see the pointer for it."

"Good. Even you couldn't possibly feel the need to play with such superstitious nonsense," Wufei snapped.

"So says Dragon Boy," Duo replied. "Come on. It would be fun to mess around. Have you forgotten what tonight is?"

Wufei snorted.

"The thirty-first of October. Saturday. Your point?"

"You really don't know? Geez, what I wouldn't give for one other red-blooded American on this team."

"A Duo is more than enough," Quatre teased.

"Haha. I knew you didn't really love me."

"Oh, be quiet. So what's so important about today?"

"It's Halloween! All Hallows Eve. The night the spirits can walk the earth freely. The night when people can become something they aren't. The night people give out candy to strangers in masks. It's SACRED, guys! It's the best holiday ever."

Trowa walked over. He took the board from Duo's hands and turned it around, examining it.

"Tis the night, they say, when all souls come back from the far away, the dead, forgotten this many a day," he recited.

"Whoa. Where'd you pick _that_ up?" Duo asked.

"I've spent time in several predominantly Catholic countries. You don't need another American. Yuy, give me a spare disk," he ordered.

Heero scowled but checked the label on a disk and handed it to him. Trowa held it up in front of Duo by one corner.

"Will this work as a pointer?"

Duo's grin grew to universal proportions.

"I don't know who you are and what you did with my Trowa, but you are so my best friend today. Let's get this séance on the road!"


End file.
